Cemetery Perpetual Care Trusts Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) (Cemetery Perpetual Care [Member], USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,207,563	$ 1,266,428
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	19,424	101,437
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(34,021)	(15,614)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,192,966	1,352,251
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | US Treasury Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	794	1,588
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	40	9
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(4)	(14)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	830	1,583
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Foreign Government Debt Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	31,993	28,487
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	442	301
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(233)	(459)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	32,202	28,329
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Corporate Debt Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	16,762	43,191
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	344	312
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(210)	(263)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	16,896	43,240
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	910	4,256
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	15	14
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(6)	(19)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	919	4,251
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Asset-backed Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	661	3,006
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	10	5
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(4)	(11)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	667	3,000
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Preferred Stock securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	4,439	25,946
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	60	192
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(12)	(252)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	4,487	25,886
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | US Common Stock Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	225,129	231,093
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	9,340	53,782
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(4,881)	(2,087)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	229,588	282,788
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Canada Common Stock Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	7,419	8,846
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,737	2,222
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(596)	(623)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	9,560	10,445
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Other International Common Stock Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	8,102	20,671
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	90	1,319
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(399)	(167)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	7,793	21,823
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	17,310	41,270
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,264	5,693
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(93)	(35)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	20,481	46,928
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Fixed Income Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	846,230	819,244
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,580	35,963
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(14,263)	(2,598)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	833,547	852,609
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Private Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	34,288	28,309
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	408	472
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(10,788)	(9,002)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	23,908	19,779
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Other Investments [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	13,526	10,521
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,094	1,153
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2,532)	(84)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 12,088	$ 11,590